Wednesday, January 27, 2010

another meeting and some questions for y'all!

Last night Mom and I had a very productive meeting with the lovely Ashley Baber, our day-of coordinator. (Jon came along too, but he was mostly bored. What can I say? We spent a lot more time talking about bridal underthings and makeup and hair appointment scheduling than on the reception layout... so it goes.) During the course of this meeting, I learned many new and pertinent things! Among them were:

1. For our big peace-out at the end of the reception at Puritan Mill, we can choose one of the following:

2. Hand-canceling is something that post offices in Atlanta will happily do for me when I go to mail my invitations. All I have to do is drop them off and ask nicely! I was under the impression from the blogs that I would have to beg and plead and they would begrudgingly hand over a stampy thing and direct me to a musty corner where I would go to work. We concluded that this method was actually probably illegal.

3. Having bra cups sewn into one's wedding dress is a popular and recommended choice, even for busty people. Is this true, brides of the blogosphere? I'm concerned, but willing to try it if the method has a track record of support and success.

As is often the case, this new knowledge brought up some questions in my mind, and with those I turn to you, wise readers. What would you pick to have tossed/waved/blown at you at the end of a rockin' wedding reception? (Confetti was my first choice, but no dice.) Also, anyone who has had experience wearing dresses with cups sewn in... doable or dangerous? Please advise!

8 comments:

we did bubbles for our exit, but i'm fairly sure that's all we were allowed to use at our venue. sparkles pictures look so cool though!

i had cups sewn in - one less thing to worry about. they worked fine for me and actually made the dress fit much more nicely across the top. i assume other undergarments would do that as well, but maybe a few trials and errors in finding the best combo?

1. We customized matchboxes and envelopes for sparklers for our guests to grab before our big exit. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans. Instead, we walked under a "tunnel" of waving arms and climbed onto a golf cart covered by an umbrella.

2. Our post office was also very accommodating and hand canceled our envelopes for us.

3. I had such a difficult time finding undergarments. I ended up buying from the shop where I bought my dress. They sewed velcro into the top of my dress (it was strapless) and into the top of the bra so everything stayed in place. It worked marvelously!

As a busty girl who has done much, MUCH more research than is probably normal in my quest to find a bra that fits CORRECTLY and is flattering, I can tell you that physics-wise, sewing cups into your wedding gown will not be enough unless your dress is really, really tight in the torso. Contrary to popular belief, the support a bra gives your boobs is contingent upon the BAND, not the cups and not the straps. A proper-fitting bra should stay in place even if you take the straps off. And the band should run around your torso parallel to the ground. If it rides up in the back so that the band is above the bottom of your breast, then it's too loose.

When you purchase a new bra, the band should be so tight that it is borderline uncomfortable when it is set on the loosest setting. This is because an average bra band will stretch up to four inches in its life span, so you have to start out with it being as tight as possible. The band is what holds the cups up, and what holds the underwire against your sternum, which aids in giving support and creating a flattering profile.

I would highly recommend that you check out some online European bra stores such as Figleaves and Bravissimo (they both ship to the US), and especially read their sizing instructions. European sizes come in a much wider range. Do not, under any circumstances, get fitted at a chain store like Victoria's Secret. Their sizes only go from 32A to 38DD, and they will fit you in something even if it's not really correct in order to make a sale. European band sizes go as small as 26 and cup sizes go all the way up to K and sometimes more.

Another bra lesson: the reason European bras go up to such a high letter is because cup size is relative to band size. If you go down a band size, you must go up a cup size to accommodate the same amount of breast tissue. For example, if you've traditionally worn a 36D, but the band is too loose and the cup is fine, you need to move to a 34DD or a 32DDD. So someone who wears a 28FF technically has the same "cup size" as a 36D (28FF = 30F = 32DDD/E = 34DD = 36D).

Anyways, I advise you to see if you can find any stores in Atlanta that carry European bras (Fantasie, Panache, and Freya are three common brands), or that specialize in sizes for large breasts. Fantasie and Freya also make bridal lines, so if you figure out what size you are, you can order online. In addition, Bravissimo and Figleaves have pretty easy return policies, so you could also order a range of sizes, try them on at home to find the best one, then return the rejects. Conversely, you could have custom lingerie made, but that would probably be way expensive. However, you could think of it as an investment because you'll be able to use it again whenever you need to wear a sleeveless dress.

ANYWAYS...Sorry for the ridiculously long message, hope this info proves useful!

Dang, Leah, you should be in bra sales. I actually just went to get fitted the other day (at a legit store that carries many european lines) and was disappointed by their strapless options. I'm also not sure if the back of my dress is too low for a normal-backed bra... so, yeah. There's always those longline things, but those are often wonky too. Still puzzling over this one. I don't trust the sewn-in cups, but it could work?

I bought a somewhat uncomfortable bustier bra thingy (with a very low back) from Victoria's Secret that did the job-- and Kleinfeld's sewed in little thingies to hook to inside of the bra so my dress would not go anywhere!!

It worked well for me and I didn't yank on it day of at all that I recall. Sounds like you have a lot of sound advice here. The woman at Kleinfeld's frowned on me when other bra options were suggested for my particular dress- hopefully you find something that works for oyu!

i don't know about the boobies- i have none and i wore a sack dress-ha!

what time are you making your departure? we did flower petals right after we said our vows.

at nigt, sparklers are the sweetest. or have you seen those candle lanterns you can release into the sky? we thought about those, you just need enough lead time because they have to be ordered from europe.you can google and youtube videos of the lanterns-i love them!

bubbles are sweet, but don't show up that well at night... in my humble opinion.